speakers were the same but slightly different in ranks.
32
Table 19
Three Most Frequent Euphemisms for
Cancer Used by the Native-
Speakers of English and the Thais
Rank of Occurrence
Euphemism for Cancer
Native Speakers of English
Native Speakers of Thai
1
the Big C
tumor
2
malignancy
the Big C
3
-
CA
Table 20 illustrates that the native speakers of English employed the Big C and
malignancy to euphemize the word
cancer whereas the Thais chose
tumor,
the Big C, and
CA. The rest of the answers were so various that they could not be ranked. They were
lesion,
serious disease,
big disease etc.
Table 20
The Percentage of Types of Euphemism Used by the Native Speakers of
English and of Thai
Types of
Euphemism
Percentage of Occurrence
Native Speakers of English
Native Speakers of Thai
Shortening
1.12%
0.90%
Circumlocution
8.66%
7.16%
Remodelling
2.51%
2.69%
Semantic Change
85.47%
88.96%
Borrowing
2.23%
0.30%
Total
100.00%
100.00%
33
The findings showed the similarities and differences of the occurrence of the five
types of euphemisms used by both the native speakers of English and of Thai. The
findings clearly revealed that both groups of informants employed all five types of
euphemisms: shortening, circumlocution, remodelling, semantic change, and borrowing.
The English native-speakers’ answers tended to use semantic change (85.47%) the most,
followed by circumlocution (8.66%), remodelling (2.51%), borrowing (2.23%), and
shortening (1.12%) respectively. The Thais preferred semantic change (88.96%) the most,
followed by circumlocution (7.16%), remodelling (2.69%), shortening (0.90%), and
borrowing (0.30%). The highest percentage of frequency among the English native
speakers and the Thai was the semantic change, 85.47% and 88.96% respectively. The
second highest rank of percentage was circumlocution, 8.66% offered by the English
native speakers and 7.16% by the Thais. The third highest rank of percentage was
remodelling, 2.51% by the English native speakers and 2.69% by the Thais. The fourth
highest rank of percentage in the English native speakers was borrowing (2.23%) while
that of the Thais was shortening (0.90%). The fifth highest rank of percentage of type of
euphemism offered by the native speakers of English was shortening (1.12%), but for the
Thais, it was borrowing (0.30%).
Summary
In conclusion, this chapter has displayed and discussed the findings of the use of
English euphemisms by the native-speakers of English and by the Thais. These findings
revealed a variety of English euphemisms and their types employed by both groups. In
terms of types of euphemisms, semantic change played a vital role in euphemizing
offensive words or phrases among the two groups of informants. Another frequent type
was circumlocution. Other findings included shortening, remodelling, and borrowing. The
34
results of the findings from both groups were almost the same. Both the native speakers
of English and the Thais preferred to use euphemisms based on semantic change,
circumlocution, and remodelling respectively. However, the English native speakers used
more loanwords or borrowing than the Thais. Shortening was presented by more Thais
than the English native speakers.
35
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the conclusion of the analysis, discussion, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further studies.
This study examined and compared the use of English euphemisms by native-
speakers of English and the Thais. The researcher developed a questionnaire comprising
20 open-ended questions asking the formants to euphemize 20 taboo words. Then all the
euphemisms were tallied for frequency and analyzed for types.
Conclusion
Regarding the first objective, to survey the use of English euphemisms by both
native-speakers of English and the Thais, 20 copies of an open-ended questionnaire
asking about the use of euphemisms were distributed to the informants of this study, ten
English native-speakers and ten non-native speakers who were instructors at state
universities in Thailand. In all, 561 euphemisms received from the two groups were
analyzed based on their frequencies of occurrence.
With regard to the second objective, five types of euphemistic words—
shortening, remodelling, circumlocution, semantic change, and borrowing—were
categorized. The most frequently used type in both groups was semantic change which
accounted for 85.47% of the answers of the native-speakers of English and 88.96% of the
Thai’s answers.
36
Finally, in regard to the third objective, the English euphemisms acquired from
the two groups were analyzed and compared. It appeared that the English native speakers
and the Thais had a similar collection of euphemisms. For example, euphemisms found
used by both groups were almost the same. These were euphemisms referring to buttocks,
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: